


Only You (And You Alone)

by Toixx_nimpark



Series: Drop The Game [2]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Bruce Wayne is tired, Dick Grayson Tries to Be a Good Older Sibling, Joker (DCU) can sing, M/M, Retirement, Tim Drake can be a brat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:55:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24463129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toixx_nimpark/pseuds/Toixx_nimpark
Summary: Joker laughed. He must’ve been an only child, because surely he would remember the comedy gold that having siblings brings. He never knew that they could be so funny...
Relationships: Joker (DCU)/Bruce Wayne
Series: Drop The Game [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1766587
Comments: 8
Kudos: 93





	Only You (And You Alone)

**Author's Note:**

> I actually picked [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs6Y5GCXc2E) and then found out that this is a song Joker sings in Batman: Arkham City! Here's the [link to that](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8UEQf6ED7o) if you want to hear the sweet sound of Mark Hamill's Joker

Bruce’s leg was bouncing up and down. And so was Joker’s patience.

There was an agreement between them: Joker was not allowed guns or weapons and Bruce had reduced his Batman times to three times a week instead of every night. Joker wished he could’ve convinced him to quit entirely. After all, he didn’t really see the fairness in him losing his identity while Batman still gets to roam Gotham streets at night.

So it wasn’t as if he could shoot the tile where Bruce’s foot was constantly moving to scare him into stopping. He felt particularly helpless, especially since he knew this situation wouldn’t resolve itself so easily.

One of the Robins (no, Joker had not stopped calling them that-- even the ones with their own hero identities) was involved in a gang shooting. Trying to placate the situation. Which Joker could’ve done if he wasn’t currently being held back on a leash like a disobedient puppy. But after a few moments of shooting, the Robin’s GPS tracker went offline and they hadn’t heard from him since

Barbara Gordon was updating them-- to Joker’s delight which Bruce gave him a cold glare over-- as she surveyed the situation.

Didn’t stop Bruce’s Closed-Cap Toes from Sheep & Hunter from making incessant thumps on the floor. Leather treated with custom-blended formula to improve softness and durability. Joker didn’t even want to interrupt him, which was the worst part. The relationship they had was so much newer than the one they had before. They had to accept and move on or argue and compromise now. It was entirely different to anything Joker’s ever had before, to his memory, of course.

(Getting beaten multiple times and having the plethora of issues he has, memory isn’t necessarily his strong suit.)

Joker could tell Bruce wanted to get up and leave. Put on his best suit and go out there to find the Robin himself. He was holding back though. Sometimes this happened-- despite the many years in which Joker thought he could read Batman like a book, there were many instances where he just had no fucking clue what was going on in that brain.

It excited him. Improv was his favorite form of comedy. He relied on people’s spontaneity to make him laugh.

The tension in the room forced a breath of laughter out of him and Joker snapped his attention to Bruce, but it was like te man couldn’t even hear him. Good. He didn’t mean to laugh sometimes; doctors in Arkham would say he had “emotional irregulations in terms of social situations.” Which Bruce knew, but sometimes didn’t understand.

He would get annoyed when Joker laughed in stressful situations, sometimes accusing him of not taking it seriously. Once the situation was over, Bruce would apologize. Those moments of annoyance were happening less regularly though, which Joker viewed as progress.

But that could be attributed to the overall lack of vigilante activity Bruce was acting in.

Joker startled at a sudden beeping coming from the Bat Computer in the Bat Cave (”Stop calling it that.” “I’ll stop calling it that when it stops being that!”). He laughed a little, but Bruce jumped to his feet to check out the update. Surveillance footage popped up to show a young man wearing a red and black suit. The black cape he adorned was ripped at the bottom. He was hiding behind a building, mouth pressed close to his wrist, where a communication device was surely hidden.

“Tim,” Bruce called for him.

“I’m okay. I’m fine. The gang had a bomb. It went off by the docks. I was able to make it out, but I’m a little banged up. Might have a concussion. Can you send Nightwing or Red Hood to come pick me up?”

His mouth was moving at a mile a minute, words leaving his lips like a gunshot. At the end, he sounded like a bored teenager asking his parents to pick him up from a party. Joker giggled a little at the mental image of a gang wearing little party hats, blowing on kazoos. Bruce frowned at him, but overall ignored him.

“I’ll send Nightwing. He should be there on his bike in…” He checked a few things, one of them looking like a map of Gotham’s docks. “Fifteen minutes. Ten minutes if he overlooks traffic laws.”

“Baby’s first steps of crime…” Joker murmured, earning another frown, but more curious this time. Bruce must have not heard him right.

Then they played the waiting game. Bruce locked down on his coordinates and sent them to his eldest Robin. Joker clapped and cheered, kissing Bruce’s cheek in happiness. He had grown to more than tolerate the Robin squad. Even went as far as to hand-knit them all socks for their first Christmas together, each with their names sewn into them. Robin #1, Robin #2, Robin #3, and Robin #4.

Eventually, they saw Nightwing drive by in his motorcycle and stop next to Tim in the footage. He helped Tim get into the proper position then hand him a helmet. For about thirty seconds there was a silent argument between them before Tim finally put on the damned helmet.

“--safety first!” A voice yelled as the communication device was switched back on. “It’s Nightwing, I’ve got him, Batman. We’re heading back to the Cave now. He’s not seriously injured, so just have basic first aid ready. Oh, and have your patience turned up to the max because he’s being a brat right now.”

“Hey!”

Joker laughed. He must’ve been an only child, because surely he would remember the comedy gold that having siblings brings. He never knew that they could be so funny. Usually he would just be focused on Batman and send his henchmen to take care of the birdies.

Bruce relaxed back into his seat and covered his face with one hand. Joker knew he wouldn’t cry over this but he looked close enough. He wasn’t a very expressive man, which Joker actually found a bit surprising. That is, until he realized he just had difficulty expressing some emotions. Anger was an emotion he had no problem with expressing. Happiness wasn’t even an emotion he had trouble expressing. It was sadness and worry that he would hide behind a paywall.

Humming softly, Joker got up and settled himself down in Bruce’s lap. After something like this, his lover deserved a little bit of doting. As a treat. He giggled as he pushed the dark hair off of his forehead and kissed the skin there.

He had a classically handsome face. It was still odd seeing the famous playboy (not anymore) Bruce Wayne’s face being under the mask of Batman, a man he’s despised since the beginning. But, fuck, was it rewarding. Joker loved Bruce Wayne’s face.

They stayed like that for a while. Bruce bumping his head to Joker’s chest and keeping it there. Joker running his long fingers through his hair and humming.

“Only you,” he spoke softly, voice sounding like a hum. “Can make all this world seem right…”

Bruce snorted and looked up at him. Joker bobbed his head as he hummed some more and then belted out,

“When you hold my hand, I understand: the magic that you do!” He smooched Bruce’s cheek. “You’re my dream come true! My one and only you!”

“Ew,” a groggy voice said, and they looked up to see Tim being walked with the help of Dick. They both had their masks off. “Watching you guys be romantic is worse than watching you have sex.”

Joker grinned. “Wanna bet?”

“Enough of that,” Bruce interrupted and gave Joker a sharp look. He pretended to zip his red-painted lips. Bruce looked back at his kids. “Do you need any help, Dick?”

His eldest son rolled Tim onto the bed they keep in the Cave for incidents like this. He stood up straight and stretched, then pulled down the first aid kit. “No, I should be fine.” Then he paused. “Actually, if you would be okay with me taping his mouth so I don’t have to hear him whining while I patch him up that’d be great.”

“Fuck you,” Tim spat, with no heat behind his words.

Joker cackled and covered his ears. “No naughty words! No naughty words for me!”

Bruce pat his thigh and he stood up from the chair, hands still placed where they were. They walked over to Tim together. Bruce placed a hand on his forehead. He was smiling.

“You okay, Tim?”

Trying (and failing) to put on an annoyed expression, Tim grumbled, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just wanna sleep this off.”

Dick never left the Bat Cave, instead sitting down on an old couch nearby and resting his eyes. Joker sang some more as Bruce took Dick’s job in taking care of all Tim’s cuts and bruises.

“ _For it’s true! You are my destiny…_ ”

**Author's Note:**

> I am on a roll with Batman fics lately! I don't expect it to last very long, so I want to write as much as I can so I can post to this series. The summaries for my fics will never NOT be a mystery to me. *Sigh* 
> 
> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are ALWAYS appreciated :)


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